Mechanical musical instrument.



A. M BELFIELD. MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION man APR. 22.1905. RENEWED MAR. 19. 1915.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

- mm W FLU-.3! o Q COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.,WASHINUTON, n. c.

A. M. BELFIELD.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22.1905. RENEWED MAR. 19, m5.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

coLUMR nLANocRAPH cm. WASHINGTON. D. c.

unirnn STATES PATENT ounion.

ANDREW M. BnLrIELnor CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIenon TO THE CABLE COMPANY,

or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, a CORPORATION or ILLInoIs.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

Application filed April 22, 1905, Serial No. 256,833. Renewed March 19,1915. Serial No. 15,575.

To aZZco/"wm it may concern 1 Be it known that I, ANDREW M. BnLrInLn, acitizen of theUnited'States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Mechanical Musical Instruments, of which the following isa full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to self-playing musical instruments such as pianoplayers either of the cabinet or interior varieties.

The principal object of the invention is to permit a-sudden accent ofany note or series of notes inthe playing of a composition, andespecially to permit this to be done whether the playing at the time besoft, loud or medium.

Another object of the invention is to permit one particular part of thecomposition, as for example the treble or the bass, to be accentedwithout referenceto the character of the playing at the time,independent of the other part.

A further object of, the invention is to accomplish the foregoing andother desirable ends in a simple and expeditious inanner.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view partly in plan andpartly in horizontal section, of a cabinet piano player embodying mypresent invention; Fig. 2 is an end view of a portion of the same; Figs.3 and 1 are views of details of construction; Fig. 5 is a view similarto Fig. 1 of the invention applied so as to accent either the bass ortreble independently of one another, Fig; 5 being taken on line 55 inFig. 6, but showing also the tracker board and associated parts; Fig. 5'is a detail view on a cross section taken through the valve boxes andlooking from the rear of Fig. 5; Fig. 6 is a vertical section of thesame taken on line 6 6 in Figs. 5 and 7 Fig. 7 is a rear view of apartof the device; Fig. 8 is a view of details of construction.

Referring first to the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to A inclusive, Ihave shown por-= tions of a cabinet piano player having a case 1provided with a tracker board 2 and a take-up roll 3 in the usualmanner. Theaction involving a series of power pneumatics 4, a, isarranged below the tracker board, and the pouch board 5 below thepneumatics in the way common in cabinet piano players. It is understoodthat there is also a suitable motor for drivingthe takeup spool 3 andconnections, by which the same rotates said spool. As these devices formno part of my present invention and are common in the art, they are notshown and described herein. A small lever 6 is shown as being the leverby which the rewind mechanism to rotate the take-up spool in one way orto rotate the music spool in the reverse direction to rewind the music,is operated. Another lever 7 is shown as being the usual tempo lever tocontrol the wind current to the motor to vary the speed thereof. Theconnections for this lever are not shown as they are old in the art andform no part of my present invention. Another lever 8 is shown, and thisis the usual choke or accent lever for choking off the wind to cause theplaying to be loud or soft or any desired variations between suchextremes. This choke valve is shown, being indicated at 9, and beingcarried by a rod 10 which is understood to be connected with the lever 8by suitable connections which are not shown as such are old and wellknown and form no part of the present invention. This valve 9 controls aport 11 leading from the V-shaped boX 12 forming a vacuum chamber to achamber 13 which is in direct communication with the action through aport 14. A second port 15 is shown establishing communication betweenthe box 12 and chamber 13. The wind always can pass between the actionand box through the port 15, but can be shut on more or less from theport llby the valve 9 to choke down and soften the playing in the usualway. In accordance with my invention, I provide a third or supplementalport 16 also establishing communication between the box 12 and action,by way of the chamber 13. This port is controlled by a valve 17 which iscarried by a spindle 18 connected with a rod 19 which latter is in turnconnected with a cross-rod 20 having a down-turned end 21. The rod 20 isprovided with a crank 22 which is connected with a link 23 which latteris in turn connected with a crank 2% on a spindle 25 carryinga crank 26.The crank 26 is in turn connected with a rod 27 which is in withseparate ports 37 and 38.

turn connected with a crank 28 on a spindle 29 having a second crank 30.The latter is connected with a short rod 31 whose upper end is providedwith a button 32. The lat-' ter is so located as to be convenient tooneoperating the player, as for example near and between certain of therods or levers 6, 7 and 8. Thus by actuating the button 32, more or lesswind will be permitted to pass between the action'and the box 12,whereby a difference in the intensity of the playing will be broughtabout. If at any time it is desired to accent a note or series of notes,the button 32 is depressed, thereby quickly opening the port 16 andinstantaneously increasing the wind power in the action to produce aquick and effective accent of the note or series of notes passing thetracker at that time. This can be done, it will be seen, when theplaying is under control of the choke valve 9 in the usual way, so thatthe accent can be brought about whether the playing is loud or soft orgraduated in between. This makes accent easy and simple andinstantaneous, and avoids the clumsy and slow method of endeavoring toobtain accent, now in vogue, of operating the pedals slowly, or rapidlyand with great force, in order to produce quickly a surplusage of windpower between two consecutive notes or series of notes. The additionalwind power to produce the desired accent, can be secured by thisinvention, by simply press ing the key 32, no matter what the conditionof the choke valve 9, instead. of endeavoring to produce a quickincrease of wind power by a sudden agitation of the foot pedals. Theport 14 between the chamber 13 and action, is controlled by a gate valve33 which is understood to be suitably con nected with the rewindapparatus, so as to be thrown across the port 14 to close the same whenthe rewind is taking place. The usual governor 34 for governing thesupply of wind to make the playing uniform whether the number of notesplayed be large or small, is arranged in' connection with the box 12 inthe usual way. A lever 35 is shown, being the lever which is connectedwith suitable mechanism for actuating the sustaining pedal of the piano.

Referring to the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, theinvention is shown applied so as to permit independent accent of eitherthe bass or the treble, or the entire action. In this arrangement thesame general arrangement and construction of cabinet piano player isshown. The action, however, is divided, as by a partition 36, and thetwo parts of the action are provided There are two choke valves 39, 39(Fig. 6) controlling the ports 37 and 38, for softening down the actionin the usual way, and these are understood to be connected together asshown in Fig. 5*, and operated in unison by the usual expression lever8, which is connected to rod 70. Below the ports 37, 38 are supplementalports 40 and 40 which are controlled by independent accent valves 41,42. These are controlled by connecting links and rods similar to thosedescribed in connection with the device of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, sothat they can be independently operated by buttons 43 and 44, located atthe front of the machine near the other controlling instrumentalities.The ports 40, 40 open into a channel provided by a channel bar 45. Thischannel bar 45 is arranged in the box 12 and extends from the same to asupplemental reservoir 46 mounted on the main feeder board. Anotherchannel bar 45 extends from the supplemental reservoir 46 to the mainbox 12 and is provided with apertures 51 opening into the latter.Governors or controllers 47 and 48 are mounted on the main board of thebellows on opposite sides of the box 12; the governor 47 is for thetreble and the governor 48 for the bass. Small channel blocks 52 and 53are extended between the governor 47 and the box 12, the channel block52 opening into the port 38 and the channel bar 53 opening into theinterior of the bellows. The governor 47 is provided with a valve 54automatically controlling the wind supply passing through the channelblock 53. In a similar way channel blocks 54 and 55 extend between thegovernor 48.and box 12, the former opening into the port 37 and thelatter into the reservoir, and the governor 48 being provided with avalve 56 automatically controlling the wind supply passing through theblock The usual feeders 57 are arranged on the front of the bellows andprovided with straps 58, 58 which are understood to be connected withthe pedals in the usual way. Thus the action of the feeders draws theair out of the box 12, and this in turn draws air from the usualreservoir 49 mounted on the box 12. By means of the channel bar 45 airis also drawn from the supplemental or accent reservoir 46. In this waya condition of vacuum is created in the box 12, and both the reservoirs49 and 46. From the latter communication is established between theports 40 and 40 by means of the channel bar 45, so that air can bewithdrawn from the action by means of the ports 40 and 40 and thesupplemental reservoir 46. In a similar manner air can be withdrawn fromthe action through the channel blocks 52 and 54 communicating with theports 37 and 38, and in its passage is automatically controlled by thetwo governors 47 and 48. The wind pressure on the action from the mainreservoir thus acts separately upon the treble and bass, and each ofthese parts of the action is automatically controlled by one of thegovernors M -and 48. The supplemental or additional wind pressure whichis added for the purpose of accent, is sup plied through thesupplemental reservoir &6

to either the treble or bass or both as de- The accent or supplementalpressure is controlled by the valves 41, 42, and connecting mechanismactuated by the buttons 43 and 14. Thus while the entire action is beingcontrolled, accent can be applied to either the bass or the treblealone, or if desired, to both together, by operating both buttons 13 and4.41.- simultaneously. In order to prevent the accent pressure fromwithdrawing air from the box 12 through the ports 37 and 38, checkvalves 60, 60, are arranged to permit suction through the port 37 awayfrom the action, but to prevent the passage of wind toward the action.Gate valves 50, 50 are provided to shut off wind from the entire action,by closing ports 61, 61. These ate valves 50, 50, are understood to beconnected with the rewind lever 6 in any usual or preferred way so as tobe operated to cut on the wind when the rewind is taking place. Ifdesired, the supplemental reservoir can be omitted altogether, and theaccent pressure communicated to the two parts of the action directlyfrom the vacuum chest formed by the box 12, as in the case of the deviceof Figs. 1 to 4:. In such case the channel bars 45 and 45 would beomitted, and the ports 40, &1 would open directly into the bellows 45 Inthe arrangement of Figs. 1 to 4, if desired, the supplemental accentreservoir can be added. It will be understood that in this dividedaction arrangement, the divisions of the action can be more than the twoherein shown, and each part can be independently accented. It will alsobe understood that the invention can be applied to an interior playermechanism, as well as to an exterior or cabinet form of piano player. Itwill be further understood that the accenting devices could be operatedby means other than push buttons and mechanical connections as shownherein. It will be understood that further changes and modifications canbe made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

VJhat I claim is 1. The combination with a single pneumatic actionchest, of a main storage reservoir and two channelsconnecting saidreservoir and said action chest, a low tension bellows in one of saidchannels, and valves for both of said channels, the valve in'the one ofsaid channels which connects with said low tension bellows beingintermediate said bellows and said action chest.

2-. The combination of a divided action, a wind inducing apparatuscomprising a vacuum chamber, a plurality of passages connecting eachpart of the divided action and the vacuum chamber, mechanicallyconnected valves for controlling the pneumatic pressure for both sidesof the action in unison, independently operable valves forcontrolling'the pressure of-the other passage for either side of theaction, and a channel communicating with all of said second menti'onedvalves and with the wind inducing apparatus.

3. The combination with a divided action, of a wind inducing apparatuscomprising a vacuum chamber, an auxiliary reservoir, a plurality ofcommunicating passages between each part of the divided action and thevacuum chamber, valves for controlling the pneumatic pressure for bothsides of the action in unison, independently operable valves forcontrolling the pressure of the other passages for either side of theaction, and a channel communicating with all of said second mentionedvalves and with the wind inducing apparatus.

4. The combination with a divided action, of a bellows and feeders, anda main and supplemental reservoir, separate governors for controllingthe wind pressure on the different parts of the action, means forestablishing communication between the main reservoir and the differentdivisions of the action through said separate governors, valves in saidmeans intermediate said governors and the different parts of the action,means for establishing communication between the supplemental reservoirand the action, and means for controlling communication between the mainand supplemental reservoirs and the different divisions of the action.

5. The combination with the feeders and bellows, and main andsupplemental reservoirs, of a divided action and independent governorsfor controlling the wind supply to the different divisions of theaction, channel blocks extending between the bellows and supplementalreservoir for establishing communication between said bellows andsupplemental reservoir and between the latter and the diflerentdivisions of the action, channel blocks extending between the mainreservoir and governors and between the latter and the different partsof the action, valves controlling the wind pressure on the action fromthe main reservoir, and separate valves for independently controllingthe; wind supply on the action from the supplemental reservoir, andmeans for preventing communication between the main and supplementalreservoirs.

6. The combination with a divided action of a Wind inducing apparatuscomprising a vacuum chamber, a plurality of wind ways connecting eachpart of the divided action and the vacuum chamber, one of the Wind waysfor each part of the action being provided with a valve for controllingthe pneumatic pressure for all of the actions in unison, and having asupplemental reservoir connected therewith and independently operablevalves in each of the main wind Ways of each part of the action, foraccenting any part ofthe actionat will.

7 In a pneumatic instrument in combination, a source of air tension, adivided action, a plurality of channels leading from said source oftension to each side of said action an independent governor for one ofsaid channels for each side of the action, a supplemental reservoir forcontrolling two other of said channels, one for each side of the action,valves operable inunison for controlling said first-mentioned channelsand independently operable valves for controlling said second-mentionedchannels.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15th day of AprilA. D., 1905.

ANDREW M. BELFIELD.

Witnesses I. C. LEE, G. V. DOMARUS.

copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

